Syracuse football safety Durell Eskridge foiled this third-down play with a sack and forced fumble of Connecticut quarterback Chandler Whitmer on Friday night in the Carrier Dome.Frank Ordoñez / The Post-Standard

Syracuse, NY -- The Syracuse football team will enter Saturday’s 7 p.m. Big East contest at South Florida with an offense that is ranked No. 33 in the nation, producing 454.29 yards per game, and a defense than is ranked No. 28, allowing 329.71. Part of the reason for the overall success of the units has been their performance on third down.

The Orange offense is converting 45.45 percent of its third-down plays into first downs this season (50-for-110), ranking No. 31 in the nation in that important statistic. It has converted at least 50 percent of its chances into first downs in four of its seven games. An 8-for-15 performance in Friday night’s 40-10 victory over Connecticut snapped a three-game drought in which the team batted .333 (14-for-42). A year SU ranked No. 74 in the nation with a third-down conversion rate of 38.29 percent.

The Orange defense is tied with Rutgers at No. 45 in the nation on third downs, allowing a success rate of 36 percent (36-for-100). It has allowed a foe to convert 50 percent of its third-down chances into first downs only once this season, USC (6-for-12) on Sept. 8. UConn was 3-for-13 (23.1 percent), SU’s best third-down defense of the season. A year ago the Orange ranked No. 54 in the nation in third-down defense, allowing a success rate of 39.32 percent (81-for-206).

Syracuse will be facing a South Florida team that is only 2-5 overall but is very good on third down offensively, ranking No. 21 in the nation with a success rate of 47.52 percent (48-for-101). The mobility of senior quarterback B.J. Daniels likely has a lot to do with that success. On defense the Bulls are a mediocre No. 68, allowing a success rate of 39.42 percent (41-for-104).